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Daily Dish: 8/5/2014

Director Lasse Hallstrom on the set of DreamWorks Pictures' film "The Hundred-Foot Journey," produced by Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey and Juliet Blake. AP Photo

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Lasse Hallstrom accepts Spielberg invite 12 years late

Steven Spielberg asked Lasse Hallstrom to work with him more than a dozen years ago, but the Swedish filmmaker only recently accepted the invitation.

Hallstrom said he experienced "traumatic suffering" when he had to decline the chance to direct 2002's "Catch Me If You Can," which Spielberg went on to direct himself.

The two filmmakers finally joined forces on "The Hundred-Foot Journey," which Hallstrom directed and Spielberg produced, along with Oprah Winfrey and "Ted Talks" curator Juliet Blake.

"I've been admiring him for a very long time," Hallstrom said of Spielberg, giddily noting the two are about the same age. (Hallstrom is 68, Spielberg is 67.)

"To work with him as a producer, that was heavenly," Hallstrom said during a recent interview in Los Angeles. "To have him in the editing room for a couple days giving his ideas on it, and to have his comments on the dailies, (was) really helpful. And good ideas for the script, too.

"So it was like we made it together, me and Steven Spielberg."

"The Hundred-Foot Journey" stars Helen Mirren as the prideful owner of a Michelin-rated French restaurant who bristles when an Indian family opens their own eatery across the street. The film opens Friday.

Nickelodeon making 'School of Rock' into TV series

The "School of Rock" will soon be back in session, this time on television.

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Nickelodeon said Monday in New York it has ordered 13 episodes of a "School of Rock" series from Paramount Television, and it will premiere next spring. The 2003 movie starred Jack Black as a rocker who poses as a substitute teacher at a tony prep school.

No cast members have been set for the series yet. Richard Linklater, the movie's director, and producer Scott Rudin will be executive producers. It's the first children's television series from producers Paramount Television.

Sylvester Stallone: It's hard to get men to like you

Sylvester Stallone may come across as the ultimate guy's guy. But he says action stars like him are "the hardest characters to sell" to other men.

"Men are very competitive," Stallone said in London ahead of Monday's world premiere of "The Expendables 3."

"It's very hard to do it. People think 'oh it's really easy,' " said Stallone. "It's good to jump around but to get other men to like you, it's very difficult. Men are kind of stand-offish that way."

The third installment of "The Expendables" sees the team come into conflict with a ruthless arms dealer, played by Mel Gibson. Harrison Ford and Wesley Snipes join the cast of action legends. And there's new blood, including "Twilight" heartthrob Kellan Lutz and mixed martial arts fighter Ronda Rousey.

"The Expendables 3" is in U.K. cinemas from August 14 and opens in the U.S. August 15.

Fingertip bitten off at Beyonce-Jay Z concert

Authorities say a man was arrested at Jay-Z and Beyonce's Rose Bowl concert in Pasadena, Calif., after allegedly groping a woman and then biting off the tip of her boyfriend's finger during a fight.

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/1ANLjCC ) 25-year-old Roberto Alcaraz-Garnica of San Diego was taken into custody Saturday on suspicion of sexual battery and mayhem.

Alcaraz-Garnica was accused of groping a woman in her 20s. When the woman's boyfriend confronted him, a fight broke out. During the altercation the suspect bit off the tip of one of the boyfriend's fingers.

Alcaraz-Garnica was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail. It isn't known if he has a lawyer.

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